1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to monitoring systems, and more particularly, to a smart endpoint and a smart monitoring system having such a smart endpoint.
2. Description of Related Art
Although most published so called smart video monitoring systems, e.g., IBM Smart Surveillance System (S3), have functions, such as identity tracking, location tracking, and activity tracking, and many technical components (or modules) for interpreting video data captured by video cameras by referring to historical background data. However, these functions and technical components are almost all developed individually and independently. As such, it is very hard to combine the individual technical components for the video monitoring system to achieve a complete sensibility to the ambient.
Besides, conventional video monitoring systems typically transmit video data captured by front side cameras to backside servers, and execute data processing with the backside servers. However, this increases the load of data processing at the backside servers, and delay the time of processing. As such, the increased load and the delayed time will affect seriously the performance of a system which is configured for providing an instant (or real time) monitoring. Further, a typical video monitoring system equipped with only a video camera exhibits a restricted behavior identification function to whom being monitored. In other words, without being assisted by other sensing technologies, such as radio frequency identification (RFID), biometrics, detection of smoke, temperature, vibration, motion, sound, gas, and light, for increasing the overall monitoring capability of the system, as well as the sensing data processing capability of the system at the front end, it would be very difficult to achieve a high reliable video security monitoring system with all functionality executed thereby.
As the demand for accurate video monitoring systems increasing, the construction of the system fundamental environment for the video monitoring systems gradually turns to consider digital monitoring systems. In order to manage the giant amount of video sensing data collected by the image monitoring systems, so as to perform the retrieval of object images and achieve the function of providing instant or real time warning messages, the monitoring systems would be definitely developed to be smart. Further, to strengthen the identification capability of the monitoring system to the subject being monitored, and improve the sensing data processing capability of the monitoring system at the front end so as to shorten the processing time used by the system in data processing have become key roles in achieving a high reliable video security monitoring system with all functionality executed thereby. Even further, the current video monitoring systems can passively perform monitoring and video recording, and can not actively find out or determine abnormal or unusual events, and therefore cannot provide instant warning message to the users.
As such, for at least the foregoing reasons, it is desirable to provide a smart monitoring system having a smart endpoint.